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Dzhambov, A.M.* ; Markevych, I. ; Arabadzhiev, Z.* ; Stoyanov, D.* ; Gatseva, P.* ; Dimitrova, D.D.*

Perceived urban bluespace and noise annoyance in young adults.

In: Bulgaria: Environmental, Social and Economic Challenges. 2018. 27-47
Noise annoyance is arguably the most prevalent non-auditory outcome of residential noise exposure. Research on the subject in Bulgaria has suggested that annoyance is associated with considerable socioeconomic costs. At the same time, common intervention strategies fail to achieve sufficient reduction in environmental noise in major agglomerations, where noise levels often exceed safe thresholds. Interaction with bluespace might have the potential to buffer noise annoyance through energetic or perceptual masking of unwanted sounds, or through psychological mechanisms of stress reduction and enhanced perceived control over the sonic environment. However, there has been no research on the subject in Bulgaria. This chapter aimed to examine the association between perceived bluespace and noise annoyance in the living environment. We sampled 720 young Bulgarians (18 - 35 years) from the Medical University of Plovdiv. Perceived bluespace was represented by the mean of responses to five items asking about amount, visibility, accessibility, quality, and time spent in neighborhood bluespace. Noise annoyance due to (1) traffic and (2) neighborhood sources was assessed using validated scales, mimicking the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise 5-point scale. The association between bluespace and noise annoyance was examined using multivariate linear regression modelling. We controlled for sociodemographic and residential factors, as well as for daytime equivalent noise level at the address point, calculated by a land use regression model. Results indicated that more bluespace was associated with significantly lower traffic noise annoyance in men, non-Bulgarians, and those who resided less than 5 years at their current address. As for neighborhood noise annoyance, bluespace seemed to benefit only non-Bulgarians. When perceived greenspace was added to the model, the effect of bluespace was not present anymore, except among non-Bulgarians. In conclusion, perceived greenspace might have greater potential to mitigate noise annoyance than bluespace. Green- and bluespace are oftentimes spatially correlated; therefore, we could not confirm that bluespace was beneficial per se.
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Publikationstyp Artikel: Sammelbandbeitrag/Buchkapitel
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ISBN 978-1-53614-281-5
Bandtitel Bulgaria: Environmental, Social and Economic Challenges
Quellenangaben Band: , Heft: , Seiten: 27-47 Artikelnummer: , Supplement: ,
Nichtpatentliteratur Publikationen
Institut(e) Institute of Epidemiology (EPI)